All Chapters of The Prince's Mistake, The Alpha King's Heir: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Effie's Pov "Strip," Alpha Knox said, and the single word landed in the quiet room with far more weight than it had any right to.I felt my whole face go hot instantly. "H... here? Now?""Here. Now." He didn't so much as blink, arms crossed, watching me with that patient, expectation he'd worn through the entire argument that had gotten me into this in the first place. "Full submission, Effie.""I didn't agree to anything," I said, trying to keep myself calm, my hands already finding the laces of my dress despite the words still falling out of my mouth. "You told me the terms and then didn't give me any real choice in the matter.""You chose standing," Alpha Tobias pointed out, entirely too pleased with himself, settling into the armchair near the window like he intended to enjoy every second of whatever came next. "That was the choice. Everything else was always going to look like this."I worked the laces loose with fingers that weren't nearly as steady as I wanted them to be, mort

Effie's Pov It was the next day after I was spanked and was still half asleep when the knock came, and fully awake a moment later when I registered that the man following Alpha Knox and Alpha Tobias through the door was carrying a physician's bag.If it weren't for the seriousness of the situation I'd probably be blushing remembering how Alpha Knox spanked me while his own brother stood and watched."This is unnecessary," I said, pushing myself upright against the pillows, already feeling faintly ridiculous about the whole production. "I'm a werewolf. We heal fast. You know we heal fast.""We know," Alpha Knox said, entirely unmoved, gesturing the doctor forward anyway. "We'd still like it confirmed properly before anyone makes a decision based on a guess."The doctor, an older man with kind eyes and the manner of someone who'd clearly tended two kings' household for long enough to stop being nervous about it, settled at the edge of the bed and reached for my wrist without waiting fo

Effie's Pov I got up slowly, pulled up out of sleep by warmth before anything else, a weight at my back and another pressed close along my front, sunlight already spilling gold and lazy across the sheets.I was still catching up to my own body when I realized what had actually woken me. Alpha Tobias's hips moving slow against my back, his breath warm at the nape of my neck meanwhile Alpha Knox in front of me was awake already, watching my face with that same patient, attention he always seemed to have plenty of, his own hips rocking slow against mine from the other side."Good morning," he murmured, low and rough with sleep still caught in his voice, utterly unbothered by the fact that I'd woken up already caught between the two of them like this."Y... you couldn't have waited," I managed, though the protest came out breathless rather than indignant, my whole body already answering the slow, insistent rhythm of both of them before my mind had properly caught up to being awake at all

Effie's Pov Alpha Knox and Alpha Tobias left not long after breakfast, both of them dressed in formal coats they only wore when pack business couldn't be put off any longer, alpha Knox pressing a kiss to my temple on his way out the door like it was the most ordinary thing in the world and alpha Tobias lingering half a second longer, murmuring something about being back before supper that I didn't quite catch over the sudden, ridiculous flutter it put in my chest. I'd barely settled into the quiet after the door clicked shut behind them, barely even settled into bed when a knock sounded on the door. I opened it to find four women crowded into the hallway, arms full of baskets and folded linens and one box I couldn't begin to guess the contents of, all of them beaming at me like I was exactly who they'd been hoping to find. "Lady Effie." The one in front, older, silver threading through dark hair pinned neat beneath, dropped a brief bow. "I'm Maris. His Majesties sent word this

Prince Jasper Pov I rode into Hollowmoon under cover of full dark, alone, my hood pulled low enough that the two warriors posted at the eastern gate never so much as looked up from their fire as I passed them by. Royalty moving through its own territory unseen. There was something almost funny in that, if I'd had any room left in me that night for finding things funny.I guess as long as I wasn't a rogue anyone could enter this pack. Must've been quite easy for Effie to leave then.The cottage sat exactly where I remembered it, small and neat at the edge of the village, a single candle still burning in the front window despite the hour. I didn't bother knocking gently.Effie's mother answered the door in a shawl thrown hastily over her nightclothes, her face going through surprise, confusion, and something closer to fear in the span of a single breath once she registered who was standing on her doorstep in the dark."Your Highness." She dropped into an unsteady curtsy. "What on eart